The Diaper Run
by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz
Summary: Leonard's words come back to haunt him


**So I binge-watched the first season of Life in Pieces last week and fell in love with the show. There's a story in one of the episodes where one of the characters has to go on a diaper run in the middle of the night and ends up getting pulled over. So naturally I had to write a thing then.**

 **Also- definitely watch Life in Pieces. It's great.**

* * *

"We've got a problem."

Leonard rubbed his eyes and looked over at where Sara was standing by the changing table. For the most part, they'd alternated who went to get Monica whenever she started crying during the night. This time, he thought it was his turn, although he wasn't certain. Still, he'd gone ahead to warm up a bottle and Sara crawled out of bed to calm her down. It turned out that she hadn't just been hungry, but also was in need of a diaper change.

"Is she okay?" Leonard asked.

Sara nodded as she yawned. "I just used up the last diaper. Didn't we buy another box?"

"Weren't you the one who got diapers last?" Leonard frowned. "Or was it me who went?"

"I can't remember," Sara murmured as she put Monica's sleepsuit back on. "I thought we had them. Or did we dream it? Anyways, we need more diapers."

"I'll go," he told her. "Anything else I should get?"

"Yeah, a slushie."

Leonard stopped in the doorway, unsure if he'd heard her correctly. "A slushie?"

"Yeah, cherry if they had it."

"Okay," he nodded and backtracked to kiss Sara and then their daughter's head. "I will be back with the slushie. And the diapers."

"Thank you," Sara smiled. "Hopefully she'll be down by the time you get back."

"We'll see."

* * *

Leonard reached out and pulled down the box of diapers from the shelf. He checked to make sure that he had gotten the right kind (there had been mistakes in the past) before walking over to the check out. Setting the box of diapers down, he began to feel that he had forgotten something. Sleep deprivation from a new baby was really doing a number on him and Sara. Yawning again, he looked behind the counter to see the slushie machines. Sara's request came back to him then.

"Can I get a slushie too?" he asked as the cashier rang up the diapers. "Cherry."

"Sure, man," the guy nodded as he grabbed a cup. "How come you're out so late?"

Leonard glared at him. He was in no mood for small talk. All he wanted to do was get the diapers home and get back to Sara and Monica. "Take a guess."

The guy shrugged as he added the slushie to the total. Leonard paid for the purchases and left the store. With yet another yawn, he turned up the radio and started the drive home. The sooner he got the diapers back, the sooner he and Sara could go back to sleep. At least they'd had one diaper left when Monica had needed it.

Flashing red and blue lights preceded the siren that came behind him. Leonard groaned as he debated whether he should pull over or not. He was only a few minutes away from home, and surely he could find a way to shake the cop on his tail if he wanted to. However, he wasn't so sure how well he could do it running on so little sleep. With a sigh, he pulled the car over onto the side of the road. It wasn't like he had anything to hide anymore these days.

" _Cops'll never hassle a dad buying diapers in the middle of the night_ ," he'd said to Mick the night Rip Hunter recruited them for the time traveling circus.

Mick could never find out about this if it became a big thing. But in general, Mick should never find out this was happening to him. He'd never be able to let it go.

"Evening, officer," he drawled as he rolled down the window.

"Evening," the cop said grimly. "You know how fast you were going?"

He honestly didn't know. "The speed limit?"

"Fourteen."

Leonard definitely hadn't noticed that. He'd just been trying to get home as fast as he could. "So under?"

"Very under," the cop confirmed. "License and registration."

"Officer," Leonard leaned out a little. "I'm trying to get back home from a diaper run. Surely we could let this slide."

The cop raised an eyebrow. "You want me to let you go?"

"Preferably, yes. I have somewhere to be."

"License and registration."

"Oh, come on," he huffed. "I need to get these home!"

The cop shined the light over the windows of the backseat. "Sir, there are no diapers in the car. Are they in the trunk?"

Leonard looked behind him, groaning at the sight of the empty backseat. He could have sworn that he'd put them back there. Climbing out of the car, he ignored the officer shouting at him and opened the trunk. There were no diapers back there. He must have left them back at the store. Had he even carried them out of the store?

"Dammit," he shut the back hatch. "I left them behind."

"The diapers?" the cop asked.

"Yes."

The cop looked him up and down. "First time dad, huh?"

"What gave it away?" Leonard sighed.

"Been where you are before. Have you got the receipt?"

Leonard dug around in his pockets before producing the crumbled piece of paper. "Right here."

"How far away are you from home?"

Leonard looked around him again. "A few minutes away."

"Get in the car," the officer gestured to his own vehicle. "I'm more comfortable knowing you get them and get home safe."

* * *

By the time Leonard made it back home with the diapers, Sara was starting to nod off in the rocking chair. Monica was fast asleep in the crib. Leonard smiled as he walked in quietly and set the diapers down beside the changing table. Sara startled awake and looked up at him.

"Got your slushie," he said as she rose to her feet and walked over to him.

"Thanks," she grasped the cup and took a sip from it. "You were gone a while."

"Yeah," Leonard smiled a little. "Ran into a small problem, but the cop took sympathy on a first-time dad."

"Good," Sara took another slip of the slushie. "Because as much as I love you, I'd have called Mick to pull you out of that mess."

"Mick must never know of anything that happened tonight," Leonard told her. "He'd never let me live this down."

Sara stifled a laugh as Monica started to fuss again.

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